


It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

by idelthoughts



Series: Tumblr Ask Box Fic [2]
Category: Forever (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, It's For a Case, Tumblr Ask Box Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-18
Updated: 2015-01-18
Packaged: 2018-03-08 00:21:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3188756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idelthoughts/pseuds/idelthoughts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's a pretend kiss, right up until it's not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a tumblr drabble prompt fill, but it went out of control. Given the length, I'm posting it as a separate story.
> 
> Prompt: Jo and Henry - Can You Hear Me?

“Dammit, he’s definitely onto us.”  
  
Jo faced Henry and waved a hand as she spoke, trying to make it look like they were deeply involved in their conversation.  
  
The suspect, a block on across the street from them, did another half-turn of his head to eye them, and then returned to his cigarette.  He didn’t alter his position, leaning on the side of the delivery truck, but there was enough tension in his stance to make it clear he was on the alert now.  
  
“There was only so long we could stand around before he grew suspicious,”  Henry pointed out.    
  
The two of them were lingering at the foot of an apartment stoop, pretending to have stopped to chat before going inside.  Their tip had said the exchange was to take place at 7pm sharp, but it was five minutes past and they were starting to look obvious.  Any longer, and the suspect would bolt and they’d miss their best shot at finding out who his contact was.  
  
The suspect straightened, turning towards them, and she was pretty sure he was rooting in his pocket for a cell phone.  She reached out and grabbed Henry’s hand.  
  
“Pretend you’re into me, or something.  At least that’ll make it look like there’s a reason we’re still here.”  
  
“‘Into’ you?”  Henry repeated, looking at their joined hands, and then back at her.  His brow was crinkled.  
  
“Into—geez really?  You know, like you’re dropping me off after a date or something.”  She took a step closer to him and tugged at his jacket as she shot a sidelong glance at the suspect.  “Come on, bring your A game.”  
  
He laughed, looking at her somewhere between disbelief and amusement.  
  
“Seriously?”  
  
“What, you have a better idea?  Because that guy is about to bolt.  If he gets on his cell phone, we might as well call it.”  
  
Henry sighed and shook his head.    
  
“Fine, fine.”  
  
He settled in close and put his hands on her waist and raised an eyebrow, giving her an impatient look.  
  
“Is this what you had in mind?”  
  
“God, Henry, you’re useless.”  She slid her hands over his shoulders and pulled him close.  “Come here.”  
  
Henry was a bit stiff as he let her pull him into a hug, but then relaxed and looped his arms around her.  She stood on tiptoes to rest her chin on his shoulder, taking advantage of the opportunity to get a better look at their suspect.  He was stamping out his cigarette, but then looked up at them, still paying far too much attention for her tastes, but no phone call so far—and no contact. She rubbed Henry’s back and squeezed him tightly, and Henry responded in kind.  
  
“Is it working?” Henry said quietly into her ear.  
  
“Not sure.  I think so.”  
  
“So, how long exactly do we stand here hugging?”  
  
Well, she really hadn’t thought that through, had she?  She felt the rumble of Henry’s chuckle as he picked up on her thought.    
  
“Oh, shut up,” she groused.  She pulled back a space, linking her hands behind his neck and looking up at him.  “Just keep looking at me.”  
  
“As you wish.”  
  
They stood there staring at each other, awkward and silent.  
  
The corner of Henry’s mouth wobbled with suppressed laughter.  Jo couldn’t help it—she snorted.  Loudly.  
  
Henry’s eyebrows shot up at the ridiculous sound, and he made a valiant attempt to hide his reaction, but he lost the battle and started giggling.  Actual giggles, like a child, which made Jo lose it in turn, furthering the feedback loop of laughter.  She pressed her face against Henry’s chest, trying to get hold of herself.  
  
Henry hugged her to him and swayed on his feet, eventually walking them in a circle so that her back was to the suspect.  To anyone else, it would have looked like they were drunk, flirting and acting foolish.  One of the three was correct at least, she thought.  
  
“I’ll keep an eye on him for a while,”  Henry said through his fading giggles.  “You might be interested to note he’s lit another cigarette.  I believe your ruse has worked.”  
  
She took another breath and lifted her face, wiping a finger under each eye to wipe away the tears of laughter.    
  
“Well, great.  So I guess we stand around here giggling until the other guy shows.”  
  
Henry smiled down at her, his grin wide and joyful.  She didn’t see him like this very often, and it was surprisingly nice to see him lighthearted.  He had a lot of weight on his shoulders these days.  And, she had to admit, it was nice to be warm and comfortable on a stakeout.  Usually those things didn’t come together.  They were relaxed against each other now, the initial awkwardness fading.    
  
They stood there for another minute, Henry’s hand settled against the middle of her back, hers still locked around his waist, falling into a silence.  Henry’s stance went tense, and she focused on his face again.  The easy smile had slipped.  
  
“What?”  
  
“He’s walking this way.  I believe he might be checking on us.”  
  
“Crap.”  She bit her lip.  “What now?”  
  
“The ‘A game,’ I believe.”  
  
Henry leaned in towards her, closing swiftly, and Jo startled and pulled her face back.  Henry froze in mid-move.  He looked uncertain.  
  
“I—ah.  I was going to kiss you.”  
  
“Yeah, I know.”    
  
Henry’s eyes slid over towards the approaching suspect and back to her.    
  
“Is it alright if I kiss you?”  
  
There was no reason why not.  They were both adults, and they’d already got this far with their cover, so no reason to blow it now.  She took a deep breath, and nodded.    
  
“Yeah, go for it.”  
  
She made it easy on him and met him halfway.  It was as awkward as any kiss she’d ever had, including the first time she’d ever kissed a boy at her seventh grade dance, and that was saying something.  Henry was stiff and polite, as if he were kissing his grandmother—which was sort of about what she’d expect from him.  But if their guy was cruising by to check them out, a frozen cardboard kiss wasn’t going to do much for them.  
  
Might as well go for it.  
  
She moved her hand to cover the back of his head and pulled him a little closer, then opened her lips just enough to catch hold of his bottom lip, trying to encourage him to loosen up a bit.  
  
He took the hint and relaxed into it, letting her guide him through it into a proper kiss, and then it was a little less middle school dance and more natural.  She was going to have beard burn after this, she thought, as he tilted his head to the other side and repositioned the kiss.    
  
There’d been a lot of first kisses in her life in the last while.   No, not a lot—just more than there’d been in a long time.  And as far as they went, this one wasn’t bad.  Slower than the previous one, where she’d ended up practically having sex in the bar restroom before they’d reined it in and headed back to his place.  
  
That was the night before she’d met Henry, come to think of it.  Henry, who she was now kissing, his hands resting on her waist.  
  
She hadn’t kept things this simple for a long time; taken the time to kiss someone, and enjoy it, pay attention to lips, tongue, breath, and the warmth of being close to someone.  
  
Henry made a little noise, sort of a soft sigh, and she realized abruptly they’d gone from Sunday kiss for grandma to first date make out territory, and she felt her cheeks go hot when she realized she was really enjoying this way too much, and had lost track of exactly why they were doing this in the first place.  She needed to multi-task a little better and calm down.  
  
“Where is he?” she said against his lips, not quite breaking the kiss.  
  
She was really out of breath, and from the sound of him, Henry was in the same boat.    
  
“He went into the convenience store across the street,” he murmured, and his lips brushed hers as he spoke.  He moved along her cheek towards her ear.  “I think he’s still in there.  Can you see?”  
  
She turned her head to glance over, and he pressed his lips to the skin where her jaw met her neck, which was enough of a shock to make her clench her hand on the back of his neck.  This was guaranteed to be one of the most embarrassing post-stakeout drives home she’d ever make.  Henry was kissing along her neck, and it was rare enough she did something like this that her body was definitely not blasé about the attention.  
  
Their suspect was just exiting the store, stuffing a pack of cigarettes in his jacket pocket.  He gave them a cursory glance, but it wasn’t much more than that—he’d bought their cover.  
  
A cover which Henry was enthusiastically maintaining, having worked his way back up her neck.  
  
“Well?” he mumbled against her ear.  
  
“Yeah—he’s, um, on his way back to the truck.  I think he’s done checking on us.”  
  
She sounded less than professional right now.  
  
Henry pulled back.  His cheeks were flushed and his mouth hung open, his breath steaming in the cold night air.  He glanced over her head towards their suspect, but kept looking back at her mouth, his attention clearly divided.  
  
She wasn’t sure if she should back off and let go of him.  She really didn’t want to.    
  
_Focus, Martinez._  
  
“Any sign of his contact?”  
  
Henry shook his head no.  He moved her hair away from her face, tucking the loose strands behind her ear again, his eyes tracking the movement of his fingers through her hair.  His expression was soft, eyes gentle, and she wondered what he was thinking.    
  
No contact yet, which meant killing more time.  They could probably manage this performance a few more minutes before it got too suspicious or weird.  
  
No, it was already weird.  But weird in a way that she wasn’t interested in thinking about deeply, and Henry was definitely still focused on her lips.  Well, that answered her question of what he was thinking.  
  
“Come on, Henry, eyes on the suspect.”  
  
She smiled and slipped her arms into his coat and around his torso, and he gave her a look of consternation before glancing towards their suspect.  
  
“I’m trying.”     
  
“Here.”  
  
She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek and then his jaw.  He tipped his head down towards her, making the reach easier so she could stand on flat feet.  Unfortunately, it was pretty clear he was staring at the ground.  
  
“Suspect, Henry.”  Her words were muffled against his skin.  
  
“Hm?”  
  
“The suspect.”  
  
“Oh, right.”  
  
He looked up again, and she tracked the same path he’d taken on her.  When she nibbled at the skin just below his ear he made a sound she’d never thought she’d ever cause him to make.  This was the best part, knowing you’d made someone’s brain shut off a little bit, just by touching them in the right place.  
  
“Jo.”  
  
“Mm?”  she hummed against his neck, and he shivered.  
  
“Jo—I don’t know if we can do this much longer.”  
  
“Why?  Is he watching us again?”  
  
His arms tightened around her as she nipped at the skin just above his collar.  
  
“No.  Because,” his voice wavered as she mouthed at his neck, gone gruff and hoarse, and she was really doing it just for that reaction now, “because it’s no longer an act.  And, because we’re supposed to be alert.  I am definitely not alert.”  
  
He was right; she didn’t care what their suspect was doing.  She’d completely chucked that responsibility on Henry while simultaneously doing everything she could to distract him, and enjoying the results.  This was Henry, and she’d really crossed a line that she shouldn’t have—not like this, certainly.  Not under the pretense of a silly ruse.  
  
She pressed her forehead to his shoulder and squeezed her eyes shut.  
  
Only the knowledge they were supposed to be staking out this illegal deal was enough to stop her.  Otherwise, she’d be suggesting they take this home, and she was pretty sure Henry wouldn’t say no.    
  
Shit.  This was not where she needed her head to be at right now.  
  
“I’m sorry.”  She hugged close against him rather than have to look him in the face.  
  
“There’s no need.”  He stroked the back of her head softly.  “My fault as much as yours.”  The thrum of his laughter sounded deep when she was pressed against him like this.  “A most effective technique in terms of dissuading him we’re on a stakeout, however.”  
   
She laughed, trying to sort out nerves from embarrassment from other stuff she wasn’t going to put a name to.  The stuff that made the sound and smell and feel of Henry really, really hard to back away from, though she was going to have to do it eventually.  
  
“Henry—“  
  
“Let’s discuss this another time, shall we?”  
  
“Yeah.”  _Or not at all._    
  
“There’s a car pulling up.”  
  
She breathed a sigh of relief.  Well, that made an exit out of this a lot easier.  
  
“Okay.”  She released him and grabbed his hand.  “Let’s talk a walk past.”  
  
She took a deep breath and collected herself, aiming for the same unaffected calm Henry seemed to have settled into without much effort.  No reason to make this any weirder than it had to be.  From the corner of her eye, she could see the determined set of Henry’s features.  She didn’t miss it when he snuck a brief glance at her, but he quickly returned his attention to trying to make out the face in the driver’s seat of the car as it rolled up slowly and pulled to a stop.    
  
They closed in on them, and the driver threw the car into park, leaning across to talk to the suspect on the street.  They were going to have a decent chance at taking this guy in.  With her free hand, Jo unclipped the snap on her holster, and leaned close to Henry.    
  
“Make sure you stay out of the way, okay?”  
  
“Of course,”  Henry said, his tone mild.  “Happy to follow your lead, Detective.”  
  
If that was a dig, she wasn’t even going to touch it.


End file.
